Attention Regulation: The Difference Between ADHD and Autism (Explaining The Neurodiversity Rainbow)

First, I think it is a wonderful attempt. But I must say, isolating ADHD to inattention only is very inaccurate. Those with ADHD struggle with emotional regulation, sensory processing, memory, etc. Even saying it is inattention is inaccurate since it is an excess of attention, just often in the wrong place. So with ADHD you get high attention to detail and fixated concentration too. Those saying this helped them figure out they are on the spectrum need to rethink and let your doctor help you figure things out because it very well could just be ADHD. This isn't the video to be making that decision from. All due respect of course! I'm so greatful YouTube has so many advocates.

What a lot of people forget is that sensory processing issues are very common in adhd too.

The easiest way to explain ADHD is what Dr. Russell Barkley said. "ADHD should be called an executive function disorder." I think a lot of kids who just have energy to burn are miss diagnosed, while quiet kids who "space out" or "day dream" do not get diagnosed. I was not diagnosed until I was in my twenties. But when I finally accepted my diagnosis it explained so much of the things I struggled with.

As someone who is currently doing a PhD in Physics but can't remember the names of anyone except my closest friends and family members no matter how hard I try, I burst into laughter when I heard "a person might find particle physics very easy but remembering peoples names very difficult"

It bugs me that the diagnoses are purely based on how well you can mask and fit into neurotypical society from the neurotypical person's point of view, not on the other struggles you may be masking which may be having a far greater impact on your mental health due to the pressure to mask!

To my sweet adhd and autistic people, depression can be comorbid. You're doing great and I think you're awesome, you deserve to be your sweet loving self ❤️

me, who has ADD and autism: haha symptom list go brrrrrrrrrrrr

Adhd isn’t just about attention, it’s the most wrongly named neurological disorder

Virtually everyone with ADHD has trouble regulating emotions and will have trouble with "inappropriate" (read: not useful) hyper-focus too; those are NOT solely autistic traits and ADHD has a much more broad impact on a person than just attention regulation. ADHD is not as simple as you state here in this video, and there is even greater overlap between autism and ADHD than you acknowledge within this video.

Emotional dysregulation is a huge part of ADHD, and SPD is also quite common. Both have asynchronous development. Both struggle with executive function. Memory is quite different in both, wherein with ASD it's usually quite exceptional and in ADHD the working memory is shot (due to the difficulty of managing attention) (which is really fun when you've got both). A lot of people with ADHD also struggle with social interaction and social cues. They're not on the opposite sides of a spectrum, they very much interlap and some of the same areas in the brain are different.

I was severely traumatized years ago as a teenage, got diagnosed with ADHD. Also suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Spent my whole life fighting ADHD. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Much respect to mother nature the great magic shrooms.

I also believe that ADHD is way oversimplified here.

As a person with ADHD I find isolating ADHD just to one area as very, very harmful. You say that you don't need social or emotional condicions to be diagnosed with ADHD but it's not true. You say that people with ADHD don't get fixated but it's not true. You say that ADHD is not a sensory issue and also, it's not true. Man, you could just ask somebody with ADHD for insight...

As others have pointed out this is very mischaracterizing of ADHD. It is much more than an inability to concentrate, it's an inability to choose what you concentrate on. This will sometimes manifest as getting distracted but it will also manifest as getting hyper focused on a particular thing. This will usually depend on if the person finds a given task engaging in and of itself because we aren't as affected by external rewards. For example, because I like programming, I could spend all day programming without getting distracted at all, but I will constantly get distracted while writing. Emotional regulation, sensory processing, and memory are also usually greatly affected as well as social ability.

I feel like ADHD wasnt shown very accurately here

Ive been diagnosed with adhd for 13 years and know I have it bc in the middle of this video I started staring off into space and thinking about how I don’t like buttermilk pancakes and it would be cool to start a restaurant with just normal pancakes.

PAUL I WAS A PROFESSIONAL OPERA SINGER AND I CANT MAKE PHONE CALLS I AM SCREAMINGGGG RIGHT NOW

ADHD also includes emotional dysregulation.

When you zone out half way through and come back like well thats the adhd

I'll be in the kitchen thinking of something I need to do in the bedroom, but have to walk through the living room to get there. I will be distracted by something in the living room, do that task and totally forget the task I had to do in the bedroom. This happens constantly which is why I am not very productive. It does help a bit to make a list and try to do at least one or two things in one day.